What is it?
That's right! It's the electric eel!
This creature is more like a product of science than an animal
So what makes him so amazing?
After an electric eel was brought to Philadelphia from South America in 1773, it was observed to have the extraordinary ability to convey a painful sensation to those who touched it! This feeling came to be known as - electric shock.
The electric eel is a freshwater fish from South America that can stun its prey by generating electricity. Although the electric eel is called an eel, it is not a kind of eel. It is more closely related to catfish in terms of taxonomy. Although it is not the only fish in the world that can discharge electricity, it is the most powerful fish.
The most powerful electric eel, the discharge energy is as high as 860 volts!
An electric eel's electric shock lasts about two thousandths of a second on average. Although brief, an electric shock may not kill a person, but it does stun a person. The electric shock causes a brief contraction/spasm of the muscles, then the person feels numb, and if you are in the water at this point, the end result is drowning.
Not only can the electric eel stun and kill its prey, it can also use electricity to remotely control its target. When the current is passed through the body of the prey, the prey avoids movement patterns that are harmful to itself, and this is exactly what it is. The eel's bosom is finally eaten by the eel.
And recent research has found that a powerful hunter like the eel is not a solitary predator, but a group of hunters like wolves, who sing together and cooperate with each other.
Electric eels live in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America. In this shady/seasonal habitat, it is very dangerous for fish, and during the dry season, the water level drops, and the oxygen supply will be insufficient, generally There's only one dead end for fish, but that's not a problem for electric eels because they breathe air.
The electric eel has a mucous membrane in its mouth that can absorb oxygen, and it can also use its mouth to breathe air when there is insufficient oxygen in the water.
Electric eels look like snakes and are very big. They can be 2.5 meters long and weigh up to 20 kilograms. They have no scales, and their bodies are always sticky. 80% of the structure of the body is for one purpose, that is Generate electricity!
There are three types of organs that electric eels use to generate electricity, called the main organ/saxophone organ and the hunter organ. These organs contain hundreds of thousands of muscle cells called electrophores, which are flat disks of cells stacked on each side of the fish's body into about 70 columns, each containing 5,000-10,000 of these cells.
In their quiescent state, these cells maintain a negative charge and pump out positively charged sodium and potassium ions as they work. When the electric eel senses prey or is threatened, it sends a signal through the nerve endings, causing the ion channels on the electrical cells to open, and positive ions can then flow back into the cell, creating an electrical potential, creating a voltage.
This power generation capacity is very similar to the batteries we use
And this is no coincidence!
It turns out that the first battery was invented in 1800, and the inspiration came from the electric eel.
Italian physicist Alessandro Volta observed that electric eels have a bunch of cells that look like coins. He thought if he could mimic this arrangement, would he also be able to generate electricity? ! Later he tested with various metals,
finally! He discovered that a disc made of copper and zinc could get electricity by soaking it in salt water! This gave birth to the first battery ever - the voltaic battery
The breakthrough of new energy batteries may depend on it, the most electricity-using animal on earth - electric eel
Original 2022-08-24 20:53 · Melon sweet mistake
There is an animal in nature, which Darwin dissected himself; Faraday used it to power his experiments; Volt, inspired by its body structure, invented the first human battery, thus promoting the development of human electromagnetism.
What is it?
That's right! It's the electric eel!
This creature is more like a product of science than an animal
So what makes him so amazing?
After an electric eel was brought to Philadelphia from South America in 1773, it was observed to have the extraordinary ability to convey a painful sensation to those who touched it! This feeling came to be known as - electric shock.
The electric eel is a freshwater fish from South America that can stun its prey by generating electricity. Although the electric eel is called an eel, it is not a kind of eel. It is more closely related to catfish in terms of taxonomy. Although it is not the only fish in the world that can discharge electricity, it is the most powerful fish.
The most powerful electric eel, the discharge energy is as high as 860 volts!
An electric eel's electric shock lasts about two thousandths of a second on average. Although brief, an electric shock may not kill a person, but it does stun a person. The electric shock causes a brief contraction/spasm of the muscles, then the person feels numb, and if you are in the water at this point, the end result is drowning.
Not only can the electric eel stun and kill its prey, it can also use electricity to remotely control its target. When the current is passed through the body of the prey, the prey avoids movement patterns that are harmful to itself, and this is exactly what it is. The eel's bosom is finally eaten by the eel.
And recent research has found that a powerful hunter like the eel is not a solitary predator, but a group of hunters like wolves, who sing together and cooperate with each other.
Electric eels live in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America. In this shady/seasonal habitat, it is very dangerous for fish, and during the dry season, the water level drops, and the oxygen supply will be insufficient, generally There's only one dead end for fish, but that's not a problem for electric eels because they breathe air.
The electric eel has a mucous membrane in its mouth that can absorb oxygen, and it can also use its mouth to breathe air when there is insufficient oxygen in the water.
Electric eels look like snakes and are very big. They can be 2.5 meters long and weigh up to 20 kilograms. They have no scales, and their bodies are always sticky. 80% of the structure of the body is for one purpose, that is Generate electricity!
There are three types of organs that electric eels use to generate electricity, called the main organ/saxophone organ and the hunter organ. These organs contain hundreds of thousands of muscle cells called electrophores, which are flat disks of cells stacked on each side of the fish's body into about 70 columns, each containing 5,000-10,000 of these cells.
In their quiescent state, these cells maintain a negative charge and pump out positively charged sodium and potassium ions as they work. When the electric eel senses prey or is threatened, it sends a signal through the nerve endings, causing the ion channels on the electrical cells to open, and positive ions can then flow back into the cell, creating an electrical potential, creating a voltage.
This power generation capacity is very similar to the batteries we use
And this is no coincidence!
It turns out that the first battery was invented in 1800, and the inspiration came from the electric eel.
Italian physicist Alessandro Volta observed that electric eels have a bunch of cells that look like coins. He thought if he could mimic this arrangement, would he also be able to generate electricity? ! Later he tested with various metals,
finally! He discovered that a disc made of copper and zinc could get electricity by soaking it in salt water! This gave birth to the first battery ever - the voltaic battery
Under the continuous research of scientists, it is found that electric eels have mastered the use of electricity.
Used to perceive the environment, to communicate, and to navigate
Electricity Under the ingenious control of electric eels, electric eels can rely on electricity to navigate in dark environments.
In fact it can't use its eyes either, because its eyesight is so poor. It locates itself with a weak current of about 10 volts, which radiates around its body to detect distortions in the electric field from conductors or anti-electrics. This weak current is also produced only when the eel activates only a few cells.
Electric eels can communicate with low-voltage electrical pulses, and by changing the frequency of the pulses, they can communicate information about their sex and reproductive receptivity.
When We Thought Electric Eels Only Have These Skills
That's a big mistake
Electric eels have more cunning ways to use electricity
That is remote control of prey, forcing them to reveal their location
To put it simply, before the electric eel hunts, it will send out two high-voltage pulses only two milliseconds apart to identify the prey and expose the prey.
These two pulses cause the prey to twitch violently, revealing its position. A real biological radar!
Although electric eels have many ways to generate electricity we already know, but scientists are still researching, especially now that we are inseparable from electricity everywhere, and a large number of new energy vehicles that use electricity have emerged. The ability to improve the efficiency of battery use, perhaps this method is on the electric eel? !